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Kayaking at Channel Islands Nat’nl Park

Filed Under local travel, photography

Friends and I took a day trip to Channel Islands National Park yesterday for a little bit of kayaking. Although I have a sunburn you would not believe, the trip was a blast! The wildlife viewing started on the 20-mile ferry crossing to Santa Cruz Island, where we saw dolphins, sea lions, and a glimpse of two or three blue whales.

We docked at Scorpion Anchorage and met up with our kayaking outfitters, Aquasports. They introduced us to our sea kayaks and went over some general instructions.  I couldn’t have been more impatient to get into the water, but I knew that this was important.  Of my friends, Nelson and Javier,  I had the most experience kayaking, which isn’t saying much.

We were on the water at about 10:30am and headed up the island, hugging the coast.  The water was a beautiful blue-green, like in the Caribbean, and was as flat as a lake. Visibility underwater was about 40-50 feet!  I brought some snorkeling gear for later in the day but struggled not to jump into the water from my kayak.  I also purchased a Canon PowerShot SD 1100 IS and an underwater housing for it and looked forward to taking some underwater photos and video.

We kayaked for 4-5 hours and explored a few caves, some as big as an auditorium and as narrow as a doorway.  It was exhilarating!  Sea lions visited us throughout the day. we saw lots of fish, including the beautiful Garibaldi, its bright orange scales making it easy to spot from the surface.  We also glimpsed some manta rays.

We got back into Scorpion Anchorage around 3pm, giving us about an hour on the beach before our ferry home arrived.  I immediately grabbed my snorkeling gear and camera, but unfortunately the sea was a bit choppy and visibility had dropped down to 6 feet.  I had fun nonetheless in a kelp forest, where I saw another ray, some Garibaldi, starfish, sea urchins, and a sea slug.

Javier, Nelson and I were exhausted by the time we got back to Ventura.  I passed out in the car on the way home.  Weekend warriors, indeed.

Here’s a video:

Here are some photos: